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MP honours clean-up heroes

Kingston and the Island member of Parliament Mark Gerretsen speaks with Kerri Tadeu and soldiers from CFB Kingston on Tuesday who assisted in cleaning up the on and off ramps of the Highway of Heroes between Quinte West and Toronto. (Ian MacAlpine/The Whig-Standard)

Kingston and the Islands MP Mark Gerretsen thanked military members, retired soldiers and one civilian for their volunteer work cleaning the on and off ramps of the Highway of Heroes portion of Highway 401.

About a dozen certificates were given out to the volunteers at a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon at Gerretsen's office on Princess Street.

Similar ceremonies were happening at other MPs' offices along the 401 between Quinte West and Greater Toronto, the route fallen soldiers travel from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to the Ontario Coroner's Office when they are repatriated.

In the fall, they were joined by other volunteers, including the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry veterans, Canadian Forces Base Kingston soldiers and family members of fallen soldiers, in clearing the ramps of assorted garbage, cans and bottles.

They picked up almost 300 bags of garage over a two-week period. Alcohol containers were returned and $158 was donated to MADD Canada in honouring the 158 fallen soldiers from the war in Afghanistan.

"You're not just helping to make sure that this stretch of the 401 remains clean, but you're also helping to bring about awareness to the sacrifice that goes into making sure we continue to have the luxuries we do in Canada," Gerretsen said to Tadeu and the current and retired soldiers on Tuesday.

"To know that so many of our military personnel have made that trip, it's very humbling for us as Canadians to fully appreciate what it takes for the quality of life we have."

Gerretsen said it's important to understand what it takes to have the liberties Canadians have and to thank the soldiers for their service "in other parts of the world where Canadians are positioning themselves to make sure that we continue to have that luxury."

As well, other memorial signs are being erected along the route, including one in honour of Maj. Michelle Knight Mendes near her hometown of Grafton along the highway.

Knight Mendes was a graduate of Royal Military College who died in Afghanistan in 2009.

A total of 158 We Remember signs have been erected along the route -- half on the eastbound side and half on the westbound side -- to honour each soldier killed in Afghanistan.

In an interview after the ceremony, Tadeu said the cleanups will now take place every spring in April before the National Day of Honour on May 9 and in the fall before Remembrance Day.

"Our adoption is rooted in combatting the epidemic of suicide amongst veterans," she said. "We want to reconnect the comrades. We want soldiers with the veterans and fallen families."

Tadeu is working on getting sponsorships to pay for transportation costs for fallen families from other parts of Canada to come and help clean the Highway of Heroes in the future.